Rethinking Communication guide to advanced dementia

Responding is respectful Responding to another person’s attempts to communicate is respectful. That’s why it is so important to be aware of the interpretations we make of another person’s behaviour. If someone is trying to communicate and we don’t respond, that means we leave them feeling ignored and alone. This can happen without our ever having intended it. It can happen simply because we had no idea that their behaviour was an attempt to communicate. So when we draw links between dementia and infancy, we do not mean that anyone who has advanced dementia is ‘just like a baby’. We mean that all of us carry our humanity within us. To ignore that humanity is disrespectful. Dementia is a relatively new phenomenom as most of us live longer than we did, even fifty years ago. Its effects will be increasingly felt by us all. Our society does not treat people with dementia with the same consideration as babies and children. It takes strong will to face up to this as it isn’t something we intend. Once we have found the courage to